Zach Parise Suffers Fractured Sternum, Listed As Week-To-Week

The injuries just keep piling up for the Minnesota Wild, who announced today that Zach Parise has suffered a fractured sternum and will be out on a week-to-week basis. Michael Russo of The Athletic reports that it will be six to eight weeks for the Minnesota forward, which likely takes him out for the remainder of the playoffs.

The Wild were already missing Ryan Suter, perhaps the most important player on their team, and will now have to go with one of their most important forwards. Parise has had a tough season, dealing with a back injury through the first half only to now be taken out again. He played in just 45 games total, but had three goals in the playoffs already and is a capable two-way player.

Even if Minnesota climbs out of their 2-1 series deficit, it seems unlikely that Parise will be back at all this postseason. That means the team will have to rely on other forwards for offense, something they might have to get used to going forward. The 33-year old winger has seen his point totals decline in three consecutive seasons, and if he can’t stay healthy it’s unlikely he’ll ever get back to the dynamic force he was in his youth.

Unfortunately, Parise is still under contract for another seven seasons at a cap hit of $7.5MM and a full no-movement clause. That deal, signed before the last CBA negotiations, would cause cap recapture penalties if he were to retire early. There’s no doubt that Parise is still an impactful player when healthy, but he’ll have to find some luck in that department if the Wild are to get fair value out of the rest of his contract.